Pope Kyrillos was the pope before Pope Shenouda III. Your parents probably saw him and prayed the Liturgies with him and took Communion from his hands. Although he dressed simply and looked as one of the Bishops, he was a saint and made many people repent and became saints like him. In his days, St. Mary appeared in Egypt and many saw her standing next to the cross on top of a dome of her church at Zeiton.

Before becoming a Pope, he spent many years in the monastery and then alone in a deserted windmill, which he turned into a church. In this small church he prayed daily Liturgies and raised evening incense (Vespers). He accepted everyone who came to him, asking for his prayers, especially the children. He used to tell them “I will send St. Mina to help you”. Everyone knew that he has a special relationship with St. Mina.

After having been selected a Pope, he continued praying a daily liturgy very early in the morning (mid-day during fasting days). He loved the children and allowed them to serve with him inside the Altar. They also loved him and started learning the prayer and the Coptic praise to answer him. He used to give them food to eat and also “Alogia” blessed bread from the Lamb offering for their families.

Because he was a man of prayer and many miracles happened during his time. One day, one of the children and his older brother were returning home on a bike after serving in a Liturgy with him. A car hit them. On the same moment back in the church, the Pope stepped out of his room suddenly saying with a loud voice “God forbid. St. Mina protect your sons.” What happened next was unbelievable. The older brother felt a hand grabbing him and putting him on his both feet on the curb. The younger brother fell under the bike and the car passed on topof the bike flattened both rims. Nobody expected to see him alive but he came out without a single drop of blood, only a bruise on his hand.

The Pope had a very special relationship with the Mother of God, St. Mary. He used to use Her intercession to heal the sick and help in times of trouble. She even appeared to all the people on top of her church in Zeiton. Also, St. Mary used to appear to him and with him, but he never talked about it. An American lady, Mrs. Pearl, wife of an Egyptian doctor (George Zaki, New Jersey) was visiting Cairo during this period and failed to see the appearance of St. Mary in Zeiton for 4 consecutive days. Two days before their departure back to the States, her husband took her and went to visit Pope Kyrillos. Her husband expressed his disappointment to the Pope that they are returning without seeing St. Mary. The Pope answered “You will see Her tonight,” but Pearl was very skeptical. She spend the night preparing the luggage and was about to go to sleep when someone in the family said if the Pope said “You will see her, and he knew that you are leaving tomorrow, that means St. Mary will appear tonight.” Let us go. Reluctantly she went with them all, and sure enough it was the longest appearance of the Virgin.

The Pope had St. Mina as his beloved patron saint. He used to ask him to take care of a problem and it always ended up solved. He renewed his monastery near Alexandria and used to spend much time over there although it was hard to reach. One day the Pope prepared to return to Cairo and they loaded the car, but suddenly a severe sand storm started and the driver was afraid they would be lost in the desert. He begged the Pope to stay, but the Pope said, “I knew it. St. Mina is not happy because we are leaving, let me talk to him.” He went to the church, prayed and immediately the storm ended and the road appeared again.

In his days, many ladies who did not have children asked for the Pope’s prayer and they gave birth to children and if their first-born is a boy they named him Mina. Many of them took their children to the monastery of St. Mina to get baptized there.

On March 9 (Amshir 30), the remembrance of the departure of the Great Pope (Papa Ava) Kyrillos (Cyril) VI, the 116th successor of St. Mark the Evangelist. He was pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark befor our present pope, Papa Ava Shenouda III. Anba (His Holiness) Kyrillos was a holy man who through full dedication to the life of prayer and fasting posessed many higher gifts which included performing wonders and miracles, the gift of knowledge, and an unusual ability to lead by example. which was missing for generations before his ascending to the throne of St. Mark. He set on the chair of St. Mark for twelve years (1959-1971). He had the honor and showed the wisdom needed to guide the Coptic Church through the difficult times of the 1960's when the government of then Gamal Abdul-Nasser was nationalizing business, real estate, and land including those willed to the churches and monasteries. He was highly regarded by the people of Egypt from all walks of life Christian and non-Christian alike.

Pope Kyrillos VI was born August 2, 1902 as Azer Ata, the son of a church deacon from a middle class family. After completing high school, Azer went to work for a shipping company in Alexandria. Much against his family's wishes, he resigned his job with the intention of becoming a monk and entered the monastery of Baramous (named after Sts. Maximus and Domadius) in the Western Desert of Egypt in an area called bariaat Sheheet (the prairie of the heart's scale). On the 25th of February, 1928, he was consecrated monk. He was given the monastic name "Mena" after St. Menas his patron saint. Three years later he was ordained a priest, July 18, 1931.

Fr. Mena attended the Helwan Theological College and was rated one of the top students. Later, he retired to a cave two miles away from the monastery to live a life of solitude. That is how he came to be known as "Abouna Mena Al-mota-Wahed" (Fr. Mena the Solitaire). Afterwards, he was appointed abott of the Monastery of St. Samuel in the eastern desert, south of Suex near the Red Sea. He devoted a great deal of effort toward the restoration of this historic landmark.

When the monastery of St. Samuel was restored, he left thatarea and moved to a deserted windmill south of Cairo (the windmill belonged tothe Army, and long after, it was revealed that he paid a nominal rent for itwhen he found out that it belonged to the Army). This is near the historicregion of "Masr Al-Kadema" (ancient Cairo). He restored the place andbuilt a small residence and a church on the name of St. Mena his patron saint.He found himself surronded with college students, many of them are from outsideCairo, so, he started a dormitory for students who neede this service. Thisinformal program produced the first church affiliated dorm in modern times inEgypt, and produced countless church leaders, some of whom are our presentbishops, priests, and Laity leaders. The likes of His Holiness Pope Shenouda(his successor), the late bishop Samuel, .. etc.

After the abduction of his predecessor, the late popeYoussab (Joseph) II by militant Copts, the church was in great turmoil whichdid not last long, because it was the will of God the pope Youssab departedshortly thereafter.

In April, 1959, Fr. Mena Al-Mota-Wahed was elected pope andpatriarch through the unique process used in the Coptic Church to elect a pope.Candidates for the honorable position are nominated, three or four of thenominees are elected by the Holy Synod as most qualified. The final selectionis left to the will of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, by placing thenames on the altar during the appointed day of final selection. A young deaconis then asked to draw a name which is then the one chosen by God from among thequalified candidates for this high calling.

In May, 1959, Fr. Mena became pope and patriarch by thelaying of the hands of all the bishops of the Coptic Church at the time, he wascalled pope Kyrillos VI (That means that five popes before him were calledKyrillos. The first pope Kyrillos is Cyril of Alexandria the pillar of faith).

During his tenure as patriarch, many were attracted tomonastic life and to the priesthood by his good example and sincere life style.As a teen-ager growing in Egypt at the time I used to attend Vespers regularlyat the Great St. Mark Cathedral (Al-darb Al-wasse) in Cairo where his holinesslead the prayers and many of us had the blessing of seeing him, talking to him,and getting his blessings. He always paid attention to the people and spentmany hours blessing and chatting with young and old. He always encouraged usduring exams seasons, and prayed for our success. No wonder many joined thepriesthood from the ranks of college graduates in all fields which waspreviously not considered the thing to do! Many books have been written abouthis life, wonders and miracles. The author recommends the publications of PopeKyrillos the VI Society which are published originally in Arabic and translatedto many live languages (English, French, German, .. etc.). We are going tomention just a few, some have not published elsewhere and was related to theauthor by relatives and friends:

His Holiness had the gift of knowledge, so one day, he wasvisited by two men, one was well known to his holiness. When the gentlemanintroduced his friend to his holiness, Pope Kyrillos looked at the man andsaid: "Why don't you like us?" I love you and like to see you herealways. The man was very ashamed because he thought evil of our beloved popeand had argued with his friend about the use of meeting a 'simple' man. Thisman became a great admirer of Anba Kyrillos and his son was healed fromterrible illness through the prayers of Anba Kyrillos.

Miracles of heeling and casting out of devils from anon-Christian young lady was related to me by a very dear relative. She was thedaughter of his boss in a textile factory near Alexandria. She was one of 22children, possessed by demons and was withering away. Her father loved her verymuch. He spent a fortune on real doctors and witch doctors as well, with noresults. On day, he called my relative to his office and said, you have"Sheik Kebeer" (Great Elder)? can you introduce me to him? Myrelative promised to arrange a meeting, he traveled to Cairo and arranged withthe pope's secretary a meeting for the afternoon of a specified date. He wassupposed to meet them at the door and introduce them to the staff to take themto the house of the patriarchate. The people were very anxious, they arrivedearly. His Holiness recognized them although he was not told (ordinarily,people were brought in, and they told him their needs). Anba Kyrillos calledthe young lady by her first name. Put his cross on her forehead, she fell downsobbing. From that moment on, she was completely whole.

Inhis last days, he was gravely ill with phlebitis (blood clot in the leg). Theyhooked a speaker from the great Cathedral to his bedroom at his request becausehe could not bear not being able to perform liturgy (which he performed almostdaily during his life of priesthood). One day the head mother of one of the convents(monasteries for nuns) wanted to speak to him on the phone, but the staffwouldn't give out his private number. Anba Kyrillos appeared to her in avision, gave her the number and comforted her. She did not call, but later onshe was blessed by seeing him and was rendered speechless when Anba Kyrillosasked her the reason she did not call on his private line. Our Father Papa Ava(the Great Pope) Kyrillos departed on March 9, 1971. Shortly before hisdeparture, he told one of the monks, you look like Tobia, the one mentioned inthe book of Tobeet. Take care of my burial. Initially, they buried him underthe Altar in the Great Cathedral in Cairo. But when his successor, the GreatPatriarch, Pope Shenouda III read his will, he had to follow his wishes and movehis holy body to the desert south west of Alexandria, to the Monastery of St.Mena which was renovated and immensely expanded by Pope Kyrillos to honor hisgood friend, patron saint, St. Mena of Marriot. That is where his place ofrest. It is the custom of Apostolic Churches to wait 50 years after departure,before declaring a person a saint. And although many in our generation feeldeeply about the worthiness of Anba Kyrillos, we anxiously are waiting untilthis day comes. His prayers and the prayers and intercessions of his patron,Saint Mena of Marriot be with us. Glory be to God forever. Amen.

Blessedtobeawitness, the only reason I ask is because it seems as if there are many within the church that are entirely unaware of this great saint. If they are aware it is more likely that they have never read his works or are familiar with exactly what he did. I am not taking anything away from St Kyrillos the 6th, I love him very much and his example that he set forth, but it makes me sad that St Cyril the Great is often left by the wayside.This especially upsets me because of the issue of some or many of our people protestantizing.

Ioannes, can you elaborate? How does Pope Kyrillos VI address the issues of protestantizing?

CopticStrength, if something is officially accepted, it can't be changed with official approval. I understand you offered what you thought was the translation of the official text and corrected it as needed. I don't fault you at all since I did the same thing for church. However, it would be nice to get a translation of the official synaxarium entry for next year and added to the presentations and synaxarium apps like Coptic Reader.

I copied and pasted everything. I got the kiddie version from the SUS diocese website, and it was a pdf file for the third grade sunday school kids. The other one, I FULLY copied from CopticWorld.org (which listed copticchurch.net as a source). I wrote nothing, I translated nothing.

All I changed was the sentence that I wrote before pasting the adult version. I wrote, "I found the official synaxarium entry!" But apparently its not...so I erased that sentence.

Remnkemi, sorry I was not clear, I was not speaking of Pope Kyrillos VI I was speaking of St Cyril the Great. While protestantism came long after St Cyril, if people were more versed in his works I would venture to say they would not protestantize at all. As God tells us in Hosea 4:6 "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge." So that is essentially what I mean. St Cyril wrote some of the most amazing commentaries are are often overshadowed by his tomes against Nestorius, which are great in their own right. And ALL his works seem to be overshadowed by other things. In fact I have personally met several Copts who had no idea who St Cyril was, most think I am speaking of Pope Kyrillos VI, even if I say "the great" or "the pillar of faith." They know St Mina, but not St Cyril, I find that odd, and again nothing against any saint or pope but how is it that people are more familiar with obscure saints but not someone who defended the faith against heresy? I apologize for not being more clear.

St Cyril the great certainly deserves his title. He contributed much to Christendom along with St Athanasius and St John Chrysotom. I consider those three among the illustrious men who defined and defended the faith through the centuries. Indispensable, of course along with myriad other fathers/saints who were as important as every rung in the ladder is.

At New Years, I was reading Chalcedon and Christology with all the works of St Cyril while the New Year party was going on. I was so engulfed in theology. When I came upstairs at midnight and heard Protestant Arabic songs with Protestant-like prayers, I blew a fuse and left. I spoke to Abouna and asked him, why is theology a dirty word to Copts? Why doesn't an Why are we running after nonsense songs. He basically told me that people are simple and cannot and do not enjoy theology but we should not go after protestant songs. We brushed off the New Years party as a mishap and worked on making sure it doesn't happen again. Nonetheless, I find it offensive for Copts to forget the heritage of their own father St Cyril. I try my best to quote St Cyril to answer as many questions as possible on these forums. Hopefully, we will see a shift back to true Orthodoxy and a stronger bond to true Orthodox fathers, like St Cyril.

For one thing, while we have some great works by St. Cyril that are in English, there is still not enough of them being translated. What we have is only the surface!!! He wrote much more important works that need to be translated, put together in a collection, and read.

I find more Copts are familiar with CS Lewis and Augustine than with St Cyril the Great. No disrespect to Augustine but really? We need to use our voice more within the church, WE need to educate people on what they are missing out on. I firmly believe that anyone who earnestly reads St Cyril will be so moved that we would not need to stress a firm stance in Orthodoxy to them. St Cyril is a great example of Christ and I think people see that in his works.

Truth makes herself plain to see for those who love her, but hides herself, and tries to hide from the thoughts of intriguing men. They do not show themselves worthy to behold her with clear eyes. - St. Cyril of Alexandria (Letter 46, 'The Fathers of the Church')